. Panama; a personal record of forty-six years, 1861-1907 . penditure of manymillions. Another condition imposed was the recessionof the Island of Manzanillo, upon which Colonis built. Under the old contract it had beengranted to the railroad in perpetuity. Underthe new, it was to be restored at the end of ninety-nine years, along with the road. These and minor conditions of a less favorablenature than those contained in the original granthaving been consented to, it was little wonderthat when the intelligence reached New York,and it became known that the future of the com-pany had been handic
. Panama; a personal record of forty-six years, 1861-1907 . penditure of manymillions. Another condition imposed was the recessionof the Island of Manzanillo, upon which Colonis built. Under the old contract it had beengranted to the railroad in perpetuity. Underthe new, it was to be restored at the end of ninety-nine years, along with the road. These and minor conditions of a less favorablenature than those contained in the original granthaving been consented to, it was little wonderthat when the intelligence reached New York,and it became known that the future of the com-pany had been handicapped with so weighty lia-bilities, in exchange for so little present or pros-pective gain, panic seized upon the holders of theshares. The latter fell in Wall Street when thenews arrived from the rosy region of three hun-dred to the gloomy depths of eighty in a singleweek. It was a case of facilis descensus Averni,and the rest of it; which freely translated mayread: the descent of a railroad to Hades is easyenough, but to get it back is another thing. 46. pq Chapter VI] CHAPTER VI /^THER clouds began to gather. In July,^^ 1862, the United States Congress passedan act in favor of a railroad and telegraph lineacross the continent. A corporate body known asthe Union Pacific Railroad Company was or-ganized and authorized to build the road from apoint in Nebraska, then a territory, to the west-ern boundary of Nevada, there to connect withthe Central Pacific Railroad, which ran fromSacramento eastward. This great line, 1,776 miles long, from theMissouri River to the Bay of Sacramento, wasto be completed not later than July 1, 1876, orwithin fourteen years. Immense inducements had been offered by theUnited States Government, in the shape of landsand direct financial aid. Yet with all these pow-erful advantages, nothing was done at the east-ern end until 1864, during which year twelvemiles were constructed from Omaha 1865 so little energy was displayed thattwenty-eight add
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